Shloka 11

अम्बा-शाल्वसंवादः | Amba’s Appeal to Śālva and His Refusal

Devanagari script

अम्बालिका च राजेन्द्र राजकन्या यवीयसी । सो5हमेकरथेनैव गत: काशिपते: पुरीम्‌

Transliteration

ambālikā ca rājendra rājakaṇyā yavīyasī | so 'ham ekarathenaiva gataḥ kāśipateḥ purīm |

Translation

毗湿摩说道：“大王啊，安婆利迦（Ambālikā）是最年幼的公主。因此我亲自独自一人，乘一辆战车，前往迦尸（Kāśī）之主的城都。”

Word by Word

• अम्बालिका: Ambālikā
• अम्बालिका: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अम्बालिका
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• राजेन्द्र: O king of kings
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजेन्द्र
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• राजकन्या: princess
• राजकन्या: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजकन्या
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• यवीयसी: younger (youngest)
• यवीयसी: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: यवीयस्
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• सः: he / that (one)
• सः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: Nominative, Singular

• एकरथेन: by a single chariot
• एकरथेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: एकरथ
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• एव: indeed / only
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• गतः: gone
• गतः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: गम्
• Form: क्त (past passive participle used actively), Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• काशिपतेः: of the lord of Kāśī (king of Kāśī)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काशिपति
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• पुरीम्: city
• पुरीम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुरी
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Ambālikā
• Kāśī (Vārāṇasī region)
• Kāśipati (king of Kāśī)
• ratha (chariot)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The passage highlights dharma as resolute, purposeful action undertaken for a larger responsibility (here, the Kuru lineage), while also foreshadowing the ethical tension created when personal vows and political necessities intersect.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma narrates that Ambālikā was the youngest Kāśī princess and that he himself went alone in a single chariot to the city of the king of Kāśī, in connection with the svayaṃvara of the princesses.